A dominating hundred from Rob Quiney steered Victoria to an eight-wicket win against England Lions in the first tour match in Melbourne. Chasing 226, Victoria cruised to victory with nearly 14 overs to spare, helped by 16 fours and three sixes from Quiney.

Victoria were given a strong start by the openers, Quiney and Chris Rogers, who put together 96 off 68 balls before Rogers fell for 23. Peter Handscomb joined Quiney and the two forged a 125-run partnership in 24.2 overs, almost taking their side to victory. Quiney was the harshest on the bowlers, making 122 off 104 and taking the match away from the tourists. He was dismissed with Victoria just five short of the win but Handscomb's half-century had also done the damage. Craig Overton, who took 2 for 30, was the only Lions bowlers to go at less than six runs an over.

After being put in to bat, the Lions were given a steady start by their openers Varun Chopra and James Vince (43). But Scott Boland struck twice in the 16th over, removing Chopra and James Taylor with the score on 68, and dismissed Ben Foakes for another duck two overs later. Fawad Ahmed joined in and took two wickets, leaving them at 74 for 5.

Gary Ballance and Rikki Clarke salvaged the innings from there with a 70-run stand before Clarke was caught behind off the part-time bowling of David Hussey for a patient 25. A flurry of fours and sixes towards the end from Ballance helped the Lions add 33 runs off the last three overs to reach 225 but that target proved some way short in the face of Quiney's aggression.

@blink182alex on (February 7, 2013, 18:50 GMT), check out where Stokes and Balance live and play cricket. It was very clever of the ECB to get Ben Stokes' father hired as a football coach when his son wasn't even a teenager so that they could get him into their cricket team. Evil genius!

jmcilhinney
on February 7, 2013, 22:45 GMT

Interesting that RandyUK calls Victoria a "weak state side" given that they are currently standing atop the Australian 50-over competition. As others have said also, this is definitely not England's second tier of limited-overs players. It is very much a development squad aimed at getting future hopes some touring experience. It's a disappointing result, no doubt, and all associated with or following this team will be hoping for improvement but some people are getting a bit too excited about the result of the first game on a tour by a team where no one has toured much at all. If people expected a touring team to hit the ground running then there wouldn't be such a thing as a warmup games, which this was. If the Lions are still playing at this level in their 5 ODIs against Australia A then that will be a different story but even then, if it's a genuine Australia A side against this young Lions squad then the home side should definitely win, with the main hope being for good competition.

Front-Foot-Lunge
on February 7, 2013, 21:29 GMT

You know it's a sad day in Australian cricket when a match that does not even come close to registering with English fans, that of England's 4th XI playing a random tour game against victoria, is hailed by Aussie fans as an achievement. I almost died laughing at this mate.

CricketingStargazer
on February 7, 2013, 20:58 GMT

I've just looked at the Lions side. No wonder some of the Aussies are getting excited: this isn't even the England 3rd XI. When you celebrate wildly a win against the reserves of the reserves of the the reserves, things are getting bad! Bear in mind that many of the actual 2nd and 3rd XI are either in New Zealand with the ODI/T20 squad, or in South Africa with the Development squad.

blink182alex
on February 7, 2013, 18:50 GMT

The England side is a bit of a mix between young players to come into the full side in about 3-5 years e.g. Topley, Foakes

A few of the rest are selected through good county form and are back ups to the main side now, e.g. Clarke, Taylor and Chopra.

As an Aussie fan i want to see the strongest possible home sides against the England Lions, so we can win and limit the positives that England can take out of the tour.

Also, check out where Stokes and Ballance are born, more foreigners in the England squad!

RandyOZ
on February 7, 2013, 18:27 GMT

Hilarious to see this. the England 2nd XI getting pummelled by a weak state side like Victoria. We all knew the talent was thin in England, but who knew it was this thin? The inevitable slide continues!

JG2704
on February 7, 2013, 17:25 GMT

Funny to see some folk getting so excited about an Aus 11 beating an English 11.
Obviously a disappointing game for the Eng 11 but as already pointed out this is all about learning/experience etc.
As a Somerset fan and a Devon lad it's nice to see Overton making a contribution

Optic
on February 7, 2013, 16:53 GMT

@WheresTheEmpire LOL something that you lot will know all about isn't it. I suppose the Ozzies have to take all the little victories they can get before this summer.

I'm not sure how this changes or proves what Vaughan said is wrong because this is a completely different format to Test cricket with only 2 players at best that have chance to play for England in the next year or two. It's a development side they've sent over to get some experience of playing in Aus because that's what the ECB does nowadays, plans well into the future, something the Aussies have badly suffered from. For nearly all these players apart from Overton, will have been over there to play before so this is great experience and will make them better players when the time comes to play proper.
I bet the Aussies wouldn't dare put a similar side out when they play the Lions, it will be a proper A team, full of internationals and next in line players, they wouldn't live down getting beat by this side

Trickstar
on February 7, 2013, 16:32 GMT

@ Mr_Ronan You may want to get you're facts straight before gobbing off, it's absolutely nowhere near a true 2nd 11, it's more a Under 23 with Clarke & Wright added and Taylor would probably be still Captain. Haven't a clue why they've picked Wright, he wouldn't be in the top 10 bowlers in the Country by some distance and he's 27, weird decision to take him. If it was an actual true 2nd 11 we'd see players like Carberry, Hildreth, Kieswetter, Shah, Shahzad, Roland Jones, Brooks, Meaker, Davies etc. I read somewhere that they picked this bunch rather than a true 2nd team because they're looking at players that could be potentially in the England team that will play in the Ashes further down the line, so we're looking 3 Ashes away in Oz. The fact this will be the first time nearly all the players have played in Oz it's no surprise they struggled against a pretty strong team. Also this is one day cricket and I don't think there's close to the strength in depth as First class cricket.

Nutcutlet
on February 7, 2013, 15:43 GMT

It's quite a tribute to the young Lions to be given a strong & experienced Vic. side to play against. Average age of Lions:21 yrs, 6mths; average age of Vic. side: 29 yrs 2mths. That's a heck of a diff! Make no mistake, Oz is hurting so much after recent Ashes' defeats that they're taking no chances. And these lads are no where near England's second team, Mr_Ronan! ( BTW, I see that Sheridan was born in Chertsey, Surrey, England!)

jmcilhinney
on February 7, 2013, 22:48 GMT

@blink182alex on (February 7, 2013, 18:50 GMT), check out where Stokes and Balance live and play cricket. It was very clever of the ECB to get Ben Stokes' father hired as a football coach when his son wasn't even a teenager so that they could get him into their cricket team. Evil genius!

jmcilhinney
on February 7, 2013, 22:45 GMT

Interesting that RandyUK calls Victoria a "weak state side" given that they are currently standing atop the Australian 50-over competition. As others have said also, this is definitely not England's second tier of limited-overs players. It is very much a development squad aimed at getting future hopes some touring experience. It's a disappointing result, no doubt, and all associated with or following this team will be hoping for improvement but some people are getting a bit too excited about the result of the first game on a tour by a team where no one has toured much at all. If people expected a touring team to hit the ground running then there wouldn't be such a thing as a warmup games, which this was. If the Lions are still playing at this level in their 5 ODIs against Australia A then that will be a different story but even then, if it's a genuine Australia A side against this young Lions squad then the home side should definitely win, with the main hope being for good competition.

Front-Foot-Lunge
on February 7, 2013, 21:29 GMT

You know it's a sad day in Australian cricket when a match that does not even come close to registering with English fans, that of England's 4th XI playing a random tour game against victoria, is hailed by Aussie fans as an achievement. I almost died laughing at this mate.

CricketingStargazer
on February 7, 2013, 20:58 GMT

I've just looked at the Lions side. No wonder some of the Aussies are getting excited: this isn't even the England 3rd XI. When you celebrate wildly a win against the reserves of the reserves of the the reserves, things are getting bad! Bear in mind that many of the actual 2nd and 3rd XI are either in New Zealand with the ODI/T20 squad, or in South Africa with the Development squad.

blink182alex
on February 7, 2013, 18:50 GMT

The England side is a bit of a mix between young players to come into the full side in about 3-5 years e.g. Topley, Foakes

A few of the rest are selected through good county form and are back ups to the main side now, e.g. Clarke, Taylor and Chopra.

As an Aussie fan i want to see the strongest possible home sides against the England Lions, so we can win and limit the positives that England can take out of the tour.

Also, check out where Stokes and Ballance are born, more foreigners in the England squad!

RandyOZ
on February 7, 2013, 18:27 GMT

Hilarious to see this. the England 2nd XI getting pummelled by a weak state side like Victoria. We all knew the talent was thin in England, but who knew it was this thin? The inevitable slide continues!

JG2704
on February 7, 2013, 17:25 GMT

Funny to see some folk getting so excited about an Aus 11 beating an English 11.
Obviously a disappointing game for the Eng 11 but as already pointed out this is all about learning/experience etc.
As a Somerset fan and a Devon lad it's nice to see Overton making a contribution

Optic
on February 7, 2013, 16:53 GMT

@WheresTheEmpire LOL something that you lot will know all about isn't it. I suppose the Ozzies have to take all the little victories they can get before this summer.

I'm not sure how this changes or proves what Vaughan said is wrong because this is a completely different format to Test cricket with only 2 players at best that have chance to play for England in the next year or two. It's a development side they've sent over to get some experience of playing in Aus because that's what the ECB does nowadays, plans well into the future, something the Aussies have badly suffered from. For nearly all these players apart from Overton, will have been over there to play before so this is great experience and will make them better players when the time comes to play proper.
I bet the Aussies wouldn't dare put a similar side out when they play the Lions, it will be a proper A team, full of internationals and next in line players, they wouldn't live down getting beat by this side

Trickstar
on February 7, 2013, 16:32 GMT

@ Mr_Ronan You may want to get you're facts straight before gobbing off, it's absolutely nowhere near a true 2nd 11, it's more a Under 23 with Clarke & Wright added and Taylor would probably be still Captain. Haven't a clue why they've picked Wright, he wouldn't be in the top 10 bowlers in the Country by some distance and he's 27, weird decision to take him. If it was an actual true 2nd 11 we'd see players like Carberry, Hildreth, Kieswetter, Shah, Shahzad, Roland Jones, Brooks, Meaker, Davies etc. I read somewhere that they picked this bunch rather than a true 2nd team because they're looking at players that could be potentially in the England team that will play in the Ashes further down the line, so we're looking 3 Ashes away in Oz. The fact this will be the first time nearly all the players have played in Oz it's no surprise they struggled against a pretty strong team. Also this is one day cricket and I don't think there's close to the strength in depth as First class cricket.

Nutcutlet
on February 7, 2013, 15:43 GMT

It's quite a tribute to the young Lions to be given a strong & experienced Vic. side to play against. Average age of Lions:21 yrs, 6mths; average age of Vic. side: 29 yrs 2mths. That's a heck of a diff! Make no mistake, Oz is hurting so much after recent Ashes' defeats that they're taking no chances. And these lads are no where near England's second team, Mr_Ronan! ( BTW, I see that Sheridan was born in Chertsey, Surrey, England!)

Apocalypse_EX
on February 7, 2013, 15:27 GMT

Nothing to be ashamed about. This is exactly why the Eng Lions are touring in the first place,to get expirience. However I do agree that Michael Vaughan's statement about England's depth in first-class cricket is a bit shallow.Australia and England both have mediocre batting talents in the domestic scene(England's do seem to have more potential though as most are younger), Australia's pace department looks very deep since most have got international exposure(though most break down,there are still others) but England definitely have greater depth in spin with panesar,treadwell and briggs(all behind Swann) while I think Australia only have one decent spinner(from what the fans say, he is also being ignored) after Lyon who is still to prove he is wicket taking quality.

SDHM
on February 7, 2013, 14:18 GMT

@Mr_Ronan - understrength? David Hussey, John Hastings, Rob Quiney, Cameron White, Darren Pattinson... all have played international cricket, with the first four in aand around the Australian sides. Hardly understrength, if anything, it seems to me like they took it seriously! Aside from Taylor most of these players aren't in line for an England call any time soon, and without Harris, Meaker & Root you could argue the Lions were the side that were understrength...

@WheresTheEmpire - is that what you guys did back in 2010/11 then? This tour is about these players England feel have a future gaining experience in these conditions so they can inflict more of that sort of pain on you in the future. Enjoy it :P

TheCricketEmpireStrikesBack
on February 7, 2013, 12:29 GMT

@SamuelH quite rightly asks "what is this tour about?". Perhaps it is about learning the traditional habits of being utterly thrashed and then making up excuses.

Wafer
on February 7, 2013, 11:06 GMT

Unlucky Mr Ronan, this certainly isn't the '2nd best XI', looks more like a development squad of future prospects. Only 2 or 3 in the England side that would be pushing for places in the current main squad.

Overton only made his first class debut last year because of the many injuries at Somerset. He and his brother did well though and this performance furthers that. Still, if everyone's fit, he'll be struggling to nail down a place in the Somerset 1st XI, let alone pushing for England.

SDHM
on February 7, 2013, 10:34 GMT

Ouch, bit of a shellacking this from a team with plenty of players in and around the Aussie squads. But that's exactly what this tour is about - gaining experience in different conditions against such players, and watching how the likes of Quiney went about it would have been good for them. Aside from Overton in the U-19 WC last year, not too many of this team have probably played in Australia, so it's a learning curve. A couple of positives - Overton bowled well, & Vince & Ballance both looked promising. On to the next game!

Mr_Ronan
on February 7, 2013, 10:24 GMT

England's 2nd best XI utterly thrashed by an under-strength State side. Yet Pom fans on here continually claim their country boasts amazing depth of talent. Michael Vaughan's claim this week along those exact same lines has already been exposed as hubris.

No featured comments at the moment.

Mr_Ronan
on February 7, 2013, 10:24 GMT

England's 2nd best XI utterly thrashed by an under-strength State side. Yet Pom fans on here continually claim their country boasts amazing depth of talent. Michael Vaughan's claim this week along those exact same lines has already been exposed as hubris.

SDHM
on February 7, 2013, 10:34 GMT

Ouch, bit of a shellacking this from a team with plenty of players in and around the Aussie squads. But that's exactly what this tour is about - gaining experience in different conditions against such players, and watching how the likes of Quiney went about it would have been good for them. Aside from Overton in the U-19 WC last year, not too many of this team have probably played in Australia, so it's a learning curve. A couple of positives - Overton bowled well, & Vince & Ballance both looked promising. On to the next game!

Wafer
on February 7, 2013, 11:06 GMT

Unlucky Mr Ronan, this certainly isn't the '2nd best XI', looks more like a development squad of future prospects. Only 2 or 3 in the England side that would be pushing for places in the current main squad.

Overton only made his first class debut last year because of the many injuries at Somerset. He and his brother did well though and this performance furthers that. Still, if everyone's fit, he'll be struggling to nail down a place in the Somerset 1st XI, let alone pushing for England.

TheCricketEmpireStrikesBack
on February 7, 2013, 12:29 GMT

@SamuelH quite rightly asks "what is this tour about?". Perhaps it is about learning the traditional habits of being utterly thrashed and then making up excuses.

SDHM
on February 7, 2013, 14:18 GMT

@Mr_Ronan - understrength? David Hussey, John Hastings, Rob Quiney, Cameron White, Darren Pattinson... all have played international cricket, with the first four in aand around the Australian sides. Hardly understrength, if anything, it seems to me like they took it seriously! Aside from Taylor most of these players aren't in line for an England call any time soon, and without Harris, Meaker & Root you could argue the Lions were the side that were understrength...

@WheresTheEmpire - is that what you guys did back in 2010/11 then? This tour is about these players England feel have a future gaining experience in these conditions so they can inflict more of that sort of pain on you in the future. Enjoy it :P

Apocalypse_EX
on February 7, 2013, 15:27 GMT

Nothing to be ashamed about. This is exactly why the Eng Lions are touring in the first place,to get expirience. However I do agree that Michael Vaughan's statement about England's depth in first-class cricket is a bit shallow.Australia and England both have mediocre batting talents in the domestic scene(England's do seem to have more potential though as most are younger), Australia's pace department looks very deep since most have got international exposure(though most break down,there are still others) but England definitely have greater depth in spin with panesar,treadwell and briggs(all behind Swann) while I think Australia only have one decent spinner(from what the fans say, he is also being ignored) after Lyon who is still to prove he is wicket taking quality.

Nutcutlet
on February 7, 2013, 15:43 GMT

It's quite a tribute to the young Lions to be given a strong & experienced Vic. side to play against. Average age of Lions:21 yrs, 6mths; average age of Vic. side: 29 yrs 2mths. That's a heck of a diff! Make no mistake, Oz is hurting so much after recent Ashes' defeats that they're taking no chances. And these lads are no where near England's second team, Mr_Ronan! ( BTW, I see that Sheridan was born in Chertsey, Surrey, England!)

Trickstar
on February 7, 2013, 16:32 GMT

@ Mr_Ronan You may want to get you're facts straight before gobbing off, it's absolutely nowhere near a true 2nd 11, it's more a Under 23 with Clarke & Wright added and Taylor would probably be still Captain. Haven't a clue why they've picked Wright, he wouldn't be in the top 10 bowlers in the Country by some distance and he's 27, weird decision to take him. If it was an actual true 2nd 11 we'd see players like Carberry, Hildreth, Kieswetter, Shah, Shahzad, Roland Jones, Brooks, Meaker, Davies etc. I read somewhere that they picked this bunch rather than a true 2nd team because they're looking at players that could be potentially in the England team that will play in the Ashes further down the line, so we're looking 3 Ashes away in Oz. The fact this will be the first time nearly all the players have played in Oz it's no surprise they struggled against a pretty strong team. Also this is one day cricket and I don't think there's close to the strength in depth as First class cricket.

Optic
on February 7, 2013, 16:53 GMT

@WheresTheEmpire LOL something that you lot will know all about isn't it. I suppose the Ozzies have to take all the little victories they can get before this summer.

I'm not sure how this changes or proves what Vaughan said is wrong because this is a completely different format to Test cricket with only 2 players at best that have chance to play for England in the next year or two. It's a development side they've sent over to get some experience of playing in Aus because that's what the ECB does nowadays, plans well into the future, something the Aussies have badly suffered from. For nearly all these players apart from Overton, will have been over there to play before so this is great experience and will make them better players when the time comes to play proper.
I bet the Aussies wouldn't dare put a similar side out when they play the Lions, it will be a proper A team, full of internationals and next in line players, they wouldn't live down getting beat by this side

JG2704
on February 7, 2013, 17:25 GMT

Funny to see some folk getting so excited about an Aus 11 beating an English 11.
Obviously a disappointing game for the Eng 11 but as already pointed out this is all about learning/experience etc.
As a Somerset fan and a Devon lad it's nice to see Overton making a contribution